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| Spread the word |
| By Ann Coppola, News Reporter |
| Published: 08/06/2007 |
What if you wanted to let COs everywhere know how an inmate in your facility hides a cell phone under his headphones? Or publicly thank an officer for working late to fix some broken cell windows? There is a way: online forums, message boards, and blogs have opened the corrections communication floodgates.Corrections Web forums and message boards allow employees to discuss the latest news about their facilities and lives. Some sites, like the Michigan-based Black and Grey Forum serve COs in just one state. “I started the Black and Grey Forum in 2002 after becoming concerned about the lack of vital information being shared,” says site founder Tim Lee of the MIDOC. “We went from a department that recognized the need to keep line staff informed, to one that failed to pass vital information to staff.” Lee couldn’t believe the extent of the communication breakdown. “We have over 40 prisons and camps in Michigan and the inmates were more informed of incidents at other facilities than we were,” he says. The Black and Grey Forum has a general message board that keeps staff informed of what’s happening around the state. Some of the message board topics are incidents, union issues, and security threat group questions. The Good Job! board allows corrections staff to praise each other’s hard work. “The site has been a great tool for change,” Lee says. “We have kept the site open, which has given our top MIDOC administrators an excellent tool to see what is really happening behind the walls and fences of our prisons.” The Black and Grey Forum currently has 558 members from numerous facilities around the state. The site doesn’t just feature message boards; users can upload pictures of CO graduation ceremonies and many other events. “We also put out safety alerts concerning new sources of weapons material or problems with specific groups of inmates,” Lee says. Florida Correctional Officers Online also offers a wide variety of features. COs can share the latest prison slang they’ve heard or post a congratulatory message to a retiring officer. “I started the site in 2002 because there was another Florida CO forum, but all it did was post angry, negative complaints,” says site founder Larry Cruce. “So I started a board and decided to keep it positive. I think the other one just eventually went away.” Cruce, who retired June 30th after eleven years in corrections, says he has about 1,374 online members. “Right now in Florida the biggest problem is turnover and the lack of pay - everyone’s got something to say about that,” Cruce explains. “A lot of central office administration news and so forth also starts up a lot of posts. The other boards we have are listed for each region within the state. There are a lot of comparisons between institutions to see the way staff and administration handle different policies and procedures.” Cruce isn’t sure how much of an impact his site has made on the department, but he’s sure that the administration and others are paying attention. “The officers hear rumors before the newspapers get their hands on it, so the press has been monitoring us,” he says. “We have prison inspectors that watch the site, also the Assistant Secretary of Community Corrections definitely reads it to see what’s going on.” State forums aren’t the only ones making a difference. National forums like Officer.com’s The Big House allows corrections practitioners from across the country to communicate with one another. “Corrections has been real active,” says Officer.com Editor-in-Chief Tim Dees. “There’s a lot of corrections people out there with common problems.” The site has 29 different law enforcement forums, but The Big House focuses on corrections. “Any registered member of the forum can start a new message thread,” explains Dees, who moderates the site. “It’s largely self-driven. We get a lot of posts about day-to-day job issues in corrections, everything from managing difficult inmates, having to feed inmates in cells as opposed to the mess hall, to special emergency response teams and the everyday communication people in corrections have with one another.” Dees is hoping to take the security at The Big House to an even higher level. “We try to restrict The Big House to people actively involved in corrections. One of the projects we have ongoing is working out a way to actually verify people are who they say they are. I think it’s something that’s needed. If we have a section and we’re reasonably sure it’s for genuine corrections officers only, I think it’s a better forum.” Currently, the site has 45,000 registered forum users and The Big House has anywhere from 30 to 50 visitors a day. Forums aren’t the only place COs are visiting though. MySpace.com currently has over 5,000 corrections officer profiles, groups, and blogs. So if you want to share what’s on your mind, chances are there’s someone else online who’s willing to read what you have to say. Related Resources: Learn how to start a blog. Officer.com Florida Correctional Officers Online Black and Grey Forum serve COs in just one state. |
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